Moneylife investigation reveals that the mysterious trail of Speak Asia runs through several India companies and the money is being remitted to purchase 'survey software' from a company linked to the shadowy promoters

Some new, worrying details about Speak Asia, the flashy survey company that has ensnared millions of gullible Indians over the past few months, are now available from a Moneylife investigation.

It now appears that Speak India Network Marketing P Ltd is a company registered in Mumbai, with Indian directors. This company and Speak India Online are collecting money from survey panelists and have accounts in ICICI Bank, ING, State Bank of India and a dozen others. Each bank has remitted Rs50 crore to Rs180 crore. About Rs1,000 crore has already been transferred abroad. The money remitted to these accounts are pooled into a company called Tulsiateck, which is also registered in Mumbai.

Our sources tell us that Tulsiateck remits funds to buy "survey software" from a company called Haren Ventures Pte of Singapore owned by Harender Kaur, who sometimes appears as a promoter of Speak Asia at mega events such as the glitzy conference recently held in Goa. The money from Haren Ventures in Singapore may or may not be going to Speak Asia Singapore, the company in whose name this massive 'survey' company has enrolled 1.9 million panelists. Haren Ventures is the distributor of e-zine "Surveys Today". Interestingly, it is also into trading in coal from Kalimantan mines in Indonesia, for China and India, shows a Google search.

We now learn from the banks that some of the accounts of Speak India have been frozen for possible legal violations. If banks take a tough stand, Speak Asia may fold up as quickly as it grew.

For months together there has been no clarity about Speak Asia's business model and no information has been forthcoming as to who owns Speak Asia and how it makes money. It appeared to be another chain-marketing scheme, which was distributing liberal patronage to the Indian media, hiring expensive advertising and public relations firms, even as it was spreading its tentacles at lightening speed.

After the banks have frozen the accounts for possible foreign exchange violations, it should now become an issue that has to be investigated by the Enforcement Directorate, which has clearly been sleeping on its job. The pooling of funds and the import of bogus software is in the jurisdiction of the Enforcement Directorate.

Strangely enough, at the press conference Speak Asia held on Monday, company officials neatly evaded all issues, saying it was collecting Rs11,000 as a deposit from panelists. It claimed that this money was the subscription price for the spectacularly expensive magazine called "Surveys Today".

The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Corporate Affairs have done nothing so far to follow the trail of the large sums of money raised by this company and its modus operandi. Right from the growth of Speak Asia, Moneylife has been warning the public about this company. Recently, two TV channels also telecast detailed reports on the issue.

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1. Speakasia Online Pte Ltd. has been black listed by Singaporeâ€™s Registrar of Companies? Is that true? No, absolutely false. The company has not been blacklisted ever. People have misconstrued the (X) sign ACRA had given on their site for delay in filing the annual returns, last year. The returns for this FY 10-11 will be filed after the year end on 31st May and this status will change.23. Is it a fake company?No , it is a legal entity registered in Singapore . This is validated in annexure 1.
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2. Who are the promoters of Speakasia Online Pte Ltd.?Speak Asia is owned by a holding company â€“ Podium Ring International Ltd , registered in BVI , is owned and controlled by Ms Harender Kaur and Associates. 3. Is Speakasiaonline registered under Indian Companies Act also?No, Speak Asia is not registered as a company in India as it is not a PE ( permanent Establishment ) . The nature of business issuch that legally the need for a PE does not arise as per prevailing laws in India. However to effectively support the business in India, Speak Asia is now going to open a PE in India soon, as has been announced in the press conference by CEO India â€“ Manoj Kumar. 4. Do we have any registered office or contact office of
Speakasia Online in India? No , Speak Asia does not have its office or its own contact office in India . It's business model is such that it has vendors for call center, Support , Marcom , Technology and Training who have respective legal business entities in India . 5. Who is
heading Indian operations of Speakasia Online? W.e.f 15th May 2011, Mr Manoj Kumar has taken charge as the CEO India . 6. Can Speakasia Online show its financial results of last few financial years?Annual financial results filed by the company thus far are available on ACRA site . We complete full one year of active operations on 31st May, 2011 and will file the returns . 7. Can speakasia online show its tax returns?Speak Asia does not collect any money from India and thus does not have any bank accounts here . The Collecting Representatives ( CR ) for â€˜Surveys Todayâ€™ ezine have paid service tax against remittances made to HVP. Over 68Cr of Service Tax was paid in the FY 2010-11 for the business done in India . Tax returns for the same have been filed with service tax deptt . 8. Who are the clients for whom Speakasia Online conduct surveys? Can we have the list of those clients? Panel Business operates on the lines of multiple exchanges where panel providers are pooled in and the clients can take their pick of the panels based on their profile requirement directly or through brokers. The panel profile can be based on demographics and many other parameters. The selected profiled panel is picked up like in any other exchange and the work is allocated to them. Hence the panels cannot know the clients name directly. (e.g. in a stock exchange we buy stocks but at the time of buying we do not know who is selling those stocks) This is a confidential data hence the names have not been publically disclosed. However our books of accounts clearly show the details of income from panel business and the agencies who gave us work . The same is being submitted to concerned Govt authorities in India as a proof of income . 9. What is the business structure for Speakasia Online? How is money distributed to panelist? Speak Asia is creating a community of consumers which earns rewards points by participating in companies activities ( e.g -ezine sales , surveys filling , product referrals / sales , advertising based surveys , self development training programs ) on the website and burns those earned reward points for purchase of products and services from the website . The companyâ€™s business model is to make profits from product and service sales after providing for the cost of servicing the reward points. Speak Asia gets research done â€˜onâ€™ and â€˜forâ€™ different companies , products and services ; panelists earn reward points (RP) for participating with their valuable opinions in the surveysEffective June- July 2011 , advertisement based revenues will start where panelists earn reward points (RP) for watching the ads carefully and giving them feedback on the same.Products are available with Speak Asia at special rates; panelists earn through saving on purchase or reselling of productsThe Reward Points thus earned are redeemed through consumption of product and services offered by the company . Panelists can buy products ( such as mobile, LCD â€¦ aptly demonstrated in recent GenX bazaar at Goa where over 4,00,000 reward points were used by just 3000 panelists for buying goods ) . They can also buy subscription codes for distribution. The left over reward points can be encashed on request made on the website . All cash requests are processed through the bank and money is sent from Singapore to respective banks through TT . 10. Is any background check of panelist is done by the SpeakasiaOnline? What if distributors and franchisee holders are using fake names and id?Yes , every panelist is required to provide his mobile number and bank account details in his profile which are already validated by respective agencies who have a system in place . 11. What is the relationship between franchisee holder/ distributor and the company? Are they the legally authorised represetatives of the Company in India?The Distributors have an agreement with HVP Singapore for selling subscription of Surveys Today ezines . The subscription number / code is used for registering on the SAOL website .The distributors are also required to provide basic training to Panelists for using SAOL site effectively . These distributors are authorized representative of HVP Singapore . 12. From which country the payment is made to panelists? If it is India, then on whose name bank accounts are being operated? Payment to the Panelists in India is being made from Singapore through bank TT. There is no Bank Account of SAOL in India. 13. Are the RBI guidelineâ€™s regarding to foreign exchange being complied, if the payments are made to panelist from outside the Country? Yes , vide Master Circular No. 01/2010-11 dated 01.07.2011 issued by RBI in respect of Misc Remitance to India 14. Can Speakasia online show its legal/incorporation documents?Yes , Annexure1 is attached 15. Subscription money paid by the panelist is deposited into whose bank accounts? Money is deposited in the bank account of the distributors. These distributors in turn remit the money to HVP Singapore using the services of collection representatives ( CR ) using RBI authorized banks . 16. Has Speakasia online obtained any permission from SEBI to run a collective investment scheme,
which promise assured returns?Speak Asia does not run a collective investment scheme. Our panelists promote sales of Surveys Today ezine, work on the website, buy & refer products and services. This does not fall into the category of collective investment scheme. Thus no such permission is required from SEBI. 17. Are there any legal cases pending against Speakasia Online in Singapore, India or any other jurisdiction?What are the status of such cases? None till date 18. What recourse does the panelist have if speakasia online stops making payment to them?The company reserves in its accounts amounts equal to estimated payments for the month at the beginning of every month . and has offered to put funds equivalent to its 2 months payouts , in an escrow account which can be used for making any payment to the panelist. 19. What is a relationship between Haren Technologies and Speakasia Online?Speak Asia Online was earlier named as Haren Technology Pte Ltd which was incorporated on 15/12/2006 20. Are the same types of surveys conducted by Speakasia Online in Singapore also? The operations in Singapore are limited and the panel size is very small. Thus no surveys are being done there. In July 2011 we plan to actively acquire new panels in Singapore , Malaysia , Indonesia and Philippines for which a new office has already been acquired in Singapore. 21. In which all countries does Speakasia Online have its presence?Being an online activity the company panelists have registered from many countries such as Australia , Singapore , India , Malaysia , Phillipines , Indonasia , .. just to name a few . Full scale activities of the company have commenced in India and other will follow soon . 22. What all legal actions have been taken by Speakasia Online to protect its image in India and all over the world?We have approached all legal and governmental authorities in India ( such as PMO , Ministries of Finance , Company Affairs, Home Affairs and Law enforcement authorities ) through official communication for presenting our business , financial and legal framework.Further ,we have engaged the best of the breed organizations in their respective fields such as Management Consulting , PR, Legal , Tax compliances , Marketing Communication , Training etc . .
To your Success

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